The field of the invention is clipboards used for holding papers or other flat items. More specifically, the invention relates to a clipboard having a built-in reading light.
Clipboards are commonly used to hold papers, and to provide a firm writing surface, typically when no other firm and flat writing surface is available or convenient. In the past, clipboards have been provided with battery powered reading lights. A reading light allows the user to read and write in dim or dark lighting conditions, without the need for separately holding a flashlight. These types of clipboards with reading lights typically have an incandescent flashlight bulb supported at the end of a flexible goose-neck supporting arm. This allows the light to be aimed as desired. In these designs, batteries are typically housed in a separate compartment, for example, on the back of the clipboard.
While these types of clipboards with reading lights have met with varying degrees of success in the past, disadvantages remain. For example, with these types of known clipboards, the reading light tends to make the clipboard more bulky. The light components are also subject to damage, as they protrude above the board and clip, and generally have no secure storage location. When these types of clipboards are used in lighted conditions, so that the reading light is not needed, the reading light is still, of course, present or attached to the clipboard, where it can interfere with clipboard use, even though it is not needed.